Cuba: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the political situation in Cuba.

Kim Howells: holding answer 28 June 2007
	The June EU Council Conclusions on Cuba reaffirmed the UK view that there have been no significant changes to the political, economic and social system in Cuba over the last year, despite the temporary transfer of power from Fidel to Raul Castro last July. The conclusions state that the Council "deplores that the human rights situation has not fundamentally changed" and observe that "the Cuban Government continues to deny its citizens internationally recognised civil, political and economic rights and freedoms".
	In response to this lack of change, UK/EU policy continues to be based on the 1996 EU Common Position, which states that the EU's main objective is to encourage a peaceful transition to pluralist democracy in Cuba. The UK/EU remains committed to a two-track policy of intensive dialogue with both the Cuban Government 'and' civil society in Cuba. We also continue to urge the Cuban Government to improve human rights standards in Cuba, including the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

European Constitution Treaty

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings involving UK  (a) officials and  (b) Ministers with (i) officials and (ii) Ministers of other EU countries were held to discuss the EU Amending treaty in the three months before 23 June 2007.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the former Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair), my right hon. Friend the former Foreign Secretary (Margaret Beckett), my right hon. Friend the former Minister for Europe (Mr. Hoon) and officials had numerous meetings with EU partners in the period leading up to the European Council. Discussions covered many areas, including EU institutional reform. My right hon. Friend the former Foreign Secretary's discussions included those with her EU counterparts at the 17-18 June General Affairs and External Relations Council, which considered a presidency report on EU institutional reform.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Connecting for Health has paid Google for the sponsored link on Google's search engine; and which words or phrases in the search criteria bring up Connecting for Health as a sponsored link.

Caroline Flint: This link was established by a communications agency contracted to NHS Connecting for Health without authorisation and without consultation on the search criteria used. This was part of a wider programme of initiatives to improve communications about the Connecting for Health programme. The arrangement has been terminated. No costs have been borne by NHS Connecting for Health or indeed by the taxpayer.
	We are exploring with the agency concerned the circumstances under which this arrangement was made and the terms under which it operated, including the search criteria. We will write to the hon. Member when these enquiries are complete, and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Immigration Appeals

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time a Home Office presenting officer spent on  (a) a deportation appeal,  (b) an asylum appeal and  (c) an immigration appeal, excluding the time spent travelling and waiting for, and presenting, an appeal hearing was over the last 12 months.

Jacqui Smith: Over the last 12 months the average time spent by a presenting officer on an individual deportation appeal or an individual asylum appeal was three hours and thirty-six minutes. The average time spent by a presenting officer on an individual immigration appeal was one hour and thirty-six minutes. These figures exclude time spent travelling, waiting for and presenting appeal hearings. They represent the average preparation time spent by a presenting officer for each case type.